Sanjay, a senior in the band pathway, has played guitar at DSA since sixth grade. Putting his instrument down, Sanjay walks out of the strings and into life.

If you walk down to the basement of the DSA main building, you will enter the band world at DSA. The band pathway provides abundant resources for students with talents in all sorts of instruments. It is in one of the smallest classrooms where Mr. Ken Davis' artistry happens every day that I met Sanjay Vidyarthi, a senior guitar/bass player. Sanjay has been in DSA ever since sixth grade, and his story breathes the life of a DSA student and the educational power DSA's unique arts program holds. "When Strings Come to Life" is a project created in the hope of documenting Sanjay's life, both at DSA and simply as a high school student. Through his story, I hope to present the rich opportunities and community DSA has to offer and the bright future that lies in front of all these amazingly talented students.

When I walked into Mr. Ken Davis' classroom for the first time, I did not expect to also walk into Sanjay's life and get know not only him but many of his friends. These DSA students welcomed me with their most genuine kindness and made me feel at home at DSA during my short stay here. I want to thank Sanjay for giving me the chance to document his life. His cooperation has been the best thing I could ever ask for. I also want to thank Mr. Ken Davis for all the support and help. It was Mr. Davis' warm welcome that made my first few trips to DSA extremely pleasant and unforgettable. I walked out of DSA every single time after my shoot feeling healed. I am more than grateful for this chance to connect with these amazing community members of DSA, and hopefully my project successfully hit the right "strings" and made the DSA I experienced "come to life."